Harvesting Marijuana

Knowing how and when to harvest marijuana will leave you with buds with maximum potency which are smooth and tasty to smoke. A good harvest will ensure your marijuana reaches its full potential.

This guide on marijuana harvesting will help you understand when to make the chop, as well as advice on preparation you can take that will make your bud that little bit more potent. It will also include a definitive step by step guide to help when you’re harvesting marijuana.

When to harvest marijuana?

The best way to tell if your plant is ready for harvesting is to examine the maturity of the trichomes. Trichomes are the sticky resin glands that cover the leaves and buds. A trichome will go through three stages within its development;

1. Clear – A clear trichome is immature and the THC will not get you as high.

2. Cloudy/Milky – A cloudy/milky trichome is at its peak with fully matured THC

3. Amber – An amber trichome is past its peak and the THC is degrading.

Perfect Buds

The best time to harvest weed is when at least 50% of your trichomes are cloudy/milky. Note there will never be a time when all trichomes are cloudy as they are continually produced and so will always be in different stages of development.

Grow Tip: If you want to be super precise, use a magnifying glass that magnifies by a least x30 to check the color of trichomes (they cost about $1 to $3 on eBay).

Too Early
Harvesting marijuana too early, and your buds will not have reached their full potential. Clear and immature trichomes do not contain fully matured THC and are not very potent. Be patient and wait until they’re ready otherwise you will have wasted all your hard work.

Too Late
Harvesting marijuana too late, the more amber trichomes you’ll have on your bud. Amber trichomes contain deteriorated THC and higher levels of CBD, which will produce more of a body stone when smoked. Avoid allowing more than 75% of your trichomes to turn amber as this means your plant is past its best!

How to harvest marijuana

PreparationIn the first two weeks leading up to harvest, start to flush your plants with distilled water (if possible, otherwise use tap water). This removes the build up of any residual chemicals or marijuana fertilizers in the soil or plant. During this period your plant will use up the nutrients it has stored, meaning the bud you’re left with tastes and smokes a lot better.

You can increase THC and resin production by not watering your plant and leaving it in complete darkness for the 48 hours before finally harvesting your weed.

Grow tip: Harvesting marijuana really stinks so make sure you do it in a space that is either well ventilated or has good odour control.

Step by step guide on how to harvest marijuana

Step 1: Stop fertilizing 1-2 weeks prior to harvesting weed and flush your plants. This removes any built up nutrients which can affect the taste.

Step 3: Harvesting marijuana in the morning is a necessity as this is when THC content is at its peak. Remove one branch at a time, cutting at the base with your pruners. Do not pull the plant out at its roots as this just causes a mess.

Step 4: Cut your branches down to a small and more manageable size, around 6-18 inches (15-45cm) and hang them so they’re not touching. It’s best to hang them while you harvest the rest of your grow as laying them on a table will leave some of sticky resin behind.

Step 5: Remove any fan leaves first, then trim away any leaves from the buds using a sharp pair of scissors. The more you remove, the quicker your bud will dry. (See manicuring your bud below)

Step 6: Hang your manicured bud for 5-7 days or until your bud feels dry but the stems do not snap when you bend them. For a full guide on drying click here. Try not to rush this last stage, quick drying is one of the most common errors when harvesting weed.

Manicuring your bud

Manicuring is simply cutting off the leaves that were growing from your weed, leaving you with the tight and tasty buds you’ve worked hard for. Also, by doing it straight away, you will speed up the drying process. Note some people prefer harvesting marijuana plants whole and then manicuring later, the choice is yours. Use the following advice for a successful manicure.

• While manicuring your bud, use a pair of scissors with small, sharp blades. Wear a pair of thin rubber or latex gloves as your hands are going to get covered in sticky and difficult to remove resin or ‘finger hash’.

• Holding your marijuana by the stem, remove the large fan leaves first, and trim any leaves away from the buds, removing as much leaf as possible without cutting into the buds themselves.

• Be sure to manicure your bud over a large smooth table or surface, clearing your scissors of resin every so often to keep the blades sharp.

• Hang your manicured buds to dry.

• The fallen resin glands and scissor resin can be collected and turned into a potent hash to be smoked immediately or rolled into blocks for later.

• You can remove and collect ‘finger hash’ by putting your gloves in the freezer for a few hours and scraping it off. Add this to the resin you’ve already collected as a reward to yourself for all of your hard work.

A final note on when to harvest marijuana:
Make sure you have no other plans when harvesting and manicuring your marijuana as manicuring half a kilo can take six hours. Once your weed has been harvested, there will be the temptation to start smoking it. Don’t. Although some buds may be ready to smoke, they will not burn properly. Make sure you DRY AND CURE your bud first.

Follow the guide above and should no problems harvesting your weed. Whether a novice or experienced gardener, knowing when to harvest marijuana and how to harvest marijuana are two important very important considerations if you want to maximize the yields and potency of your bud.

23 comments on Harvesting Marijuana

AFTER HARVEST … a poster noted that after the branches are cut ,it’s over …
NOT SO … cut the main stem down to about 6″ .. be sure to leave a few
nodes untouched , put the plant back under 20 hr light and VOILA !!! new
leaves begin to grow , they may look deformed , but that straightens out in
about a week , then the plant continues to grow again ..
this is a great practice , as the 2nd and succeeding gens will start out with a large
root system and you know that you will get a female ..
I have plants that i have harvested 3 times … garce

It is sometimes possible to, in a since, rejuvenate your plant after harvesting the ripened colas from the top half of the plant. The lower bud sites will continue to develop. Keep in mind that the are only going to ripen further and that the plant is not going to come back to life for another cycle. The flowering phase is the final stage of a plants cycle so kiss it goodbye throw it in a pipe and have a toke to her mameries!

Zotsi,
The chlorophyll and remaining nutrients are concentrated in the sun leaves (two leaves at the bud’s base) and sugar leaves (coming out of the bud itself). The taste is very harsh, even after flushing. Trim them off along with the inner stems that are covered in the trichomes.and then used them to make keif with your grinder. Make sure they are very dry, overly dry works well. Pu those leaves and stems in you grinder and put it in the freezer for a couple hours. The trichomes will break off easier. Place a nickel in the grinder on top of the keif screen and shake, spin, tap over and over. The keif collects at the bottom after falling through the screen. The keif can be put in a pollen press and compressed. You can smoke that after a day in the press (some people can’t wait). It will smell and taste very close to a mid-grade hashish. Sorry for going on so long.

Can anything be made out of the leaves trimmed off the plants that I am in the process of harvesting; I have lots of them, possibly 4-5 lbs. or more. Seems terrible that you would just have to throw them away. This is my first time to grow outdoors. An answer would be greatly appreciated A.S.A.P. Thanks again Marty

You say to trim all the leaves off the buds and then you say to scape the resin from the scissors and smoke it as hash. The small leaves coming out of the buds are covered with little spots of resin that gets on the scissors. Why should you cut these little leaves off if they have resin on them that’s as potent as hash? Why not just leave them on?

I have a 40x + microscope so ner mind about the last question.. but heres another one… is there too MUCH time to leave your buds out to dry?.. like is there an amount a time that you have to have absolutely have them put in plastic bags???

Iv’e read hours and hours of tips on the above. It seems to me that all growth looks different and being that ive seen a lot of really good growing jobs it still is confusing to get started . of course, our state has not allowed the use of it for medical yet. However, I do see it coming but, it seems like you never know where. I plan on taking the course to be allowed to grow medicinal marijuana so it’s great to actually have some understanding on how to do this so that when it is approved for medical use whether it be in this state or the one we plan on moving to. So, Yes other than having to put myself in any legal battles I will not grow where it’s illegal but, I will learn all I have to so when it is i be ready hobby moneymaker??????? who knows but, yes I do plan to do something if I’m able and when that wonderful time comes hopefully something may come out of it that is if the government doesn’t take it’s sweet ole time to make it legal.

Hi there, once you harvest the plant you’re going to struggle to use it for anything else. If you want to makie the most out of a female plant you need to clone during the early stages of growth. You can find more about cloning via the link.

you deserve all that can show our appreciation for your scientific and experienced guides,and I should inform you your activities are humanistic and I do believe your way is only as a cause of your lovely hearts.Meanwhile please be informed I live in iran and unfortunately using joint is prohibited here. ive grown about 10 plants this year as a beginner and of course making use of your kind and free guidelines and these days they are about 6 months old making resins.you are appreciated to enable me to purchase some seeds for better kind of crop.
best wishes
sincerely yours
Hossein Arab(m)

I have a small plant that is budding (its maybe twenty inches). It has been brought back from near death experience in june and has gotten seven ‘tops’ that are starting to glisten. How can i harvest the buds only and should i move it indoors? I live in the deep south.

It sounds like you might have a hermaphrodite plant. Male plants or hermaphrodites produce seeds that look like little sacks which is what it sounds like your plant has. Unless you were trying to produce seeds we would suggest culling the plant and removing it from your grow environment.